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Oh…Fruitcake..Gee Thanks!

Let’s face it fruitcake has a bad rap.  Like many others I looked askance at this holiday heavyweight for years.  About fours years ago I got the idea to start making them.  Don’t ask me why, since I’d never been much interested in the stuff.  Perhaps its like my sudden interest in opera at age 48, it is just something that you grow into.  I wonder what will be next:  NASCAR, gambling, QVC?.  Perhaps it is the byproduct of advancing age, the rigid mental barriers breakdown and one can’t recall longtime biases and habits; “Humm..  haven’t I always loved fruitcake?  You know I really should start making it”.

A local cafe makes an “all natural” loaf, that is with real dried fruit, that I had many years ago and found to my liking.  That kind of cake fits more with my approach to food than the candied varieties that we are all familiar with.  I began to look for recipes.  I eventually found one that looked promising in the “Joy Of Cooking” pg 977.  I modified the recipe slightly and of course use dried fruit rather than candied, its fabulous.  The combination of intense spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, mace, cloves), dried fruit, molasses and brandy produce a marvelously complex taste sensation.  As the cake ages it gets even better as things start to mingle and interact.  I’ve never been able to keep mine for more than a few months (I’m very undisciplined) but I have eaten one year old cake made by a friend and can report that they definitely improve with time.  They are reputed to last for years with enough alcohol in them and under proper storage.

Over the years I’ve given them away as Christmas gifts to family and friends.  Last year I overcooked almost the entire batch (dark pans, avoid them if possible)  and didn’t give many away, consuming them at home (they are too expensive to just throw away).  I took a couple of loaves to Mt Athos and they came in handy on a number of occasions. 

It is very rewarding to make something and give it as a gift at holiday time yet, at the same time there is a certain pleasure in watching people squirm when I hand one over.  Sometimes it is a look of panic or dread, as if I just asked them to hold a bag of dog poop.  “Oh my God, what am I going to do with this thing?”  they must be thinking.  “I hope he is not going to ask me to cut it up and eat it now!”

When I bring a cake to Christmas parties there is a similar reaction, people eat around them at the cookie table.  Since mine don’t quite look like the typical fruitcake there is also the basic instinct to avoid the unknown.  Sugar cookies with silver beads and green and red sprinkles, now those are safe to eat.  I go on the offensive and immediately starting eating some encouraging others around me to do so.  The few brave ones are pleasantly surprised to discover that the lowly fruitcake is perhaps the only item at the desert table of any substance and tastes great.  There are even a few folks now who look forward to them. 

Watch out the fruitcakes are in the mail!